I brought some nice
clothes and drove into the
tiny town of Ft. Branch,
not having a clue where the
wedding was and knowing
virtually nothing about the
town.
I cruised the tiny town until
I'd see someone dressed up and
I'd ask them where they were
going. Eventually I got lucky
and found someone who knew
about my cousin's wedding. I
went to the reception hall and
parked around back...covered
myself in aftershave (I'd been
driving for over 12 hours
through the night) and waited
for the herd to stampede on in.
Then I walked up behind my
mother and tapped her on the
shoulder. It was quite an
entrance, I must say.
My father, Richard, was
elsewhere and he
heard someone say I was there...
but he didn't believe it until
he saw me (that story always
reminds me of the apostle
Thomas). And there was much
rejoicing.
Unfortunately, in all the
excitement, my brother and I
realized we hadn't bought any
presents for Christmas. So we
purged the bathroom closet and
gift-wrapped what we found
to put under the Christmas
tree. My sister got the worst
end of the deal. A day before
Christmas, ONE of her shoes
mysteriously disappeared...
And on Christmas there was
a strange, shoe-shapped present
under the tree.
